Sentence Correction

When the choice is between an infinitive and a gerund, the following rule is recommended by experts:

"On the GMAT, if you have to choose between an "ing" verb and the infinitive AFTER another verb, always choose the infinitive. When the verb does not follow another verb, the participle ("ing" form) is usually correct."

Bearing this in mind, I was solving this particular SC question -

Dirt roads may evoke the bucolic simplicity of another century, but financially strained townships point out that dirt roads cost twice as much as maintaining paved roads.

(A) dirt roads cost twice as much as maintaining paved roads
(B) dirt roads cost twice as much to maintain as paved roads do
(C) maintaining dirt roads costs twice as much as paved roads do
(D) maintaining dirt roads costs twice as much as it does for paved roads
(E) to maintain dirt roads costs twice as much as for paved roads

Now, normally I would have chosen B straight off because it sounds good and the grammar is correct...the only thing that struck me was "to maintain". So I applied the rule and chose D. The only possible flaw in this option was the pronoun "it", otherwise the sentence looked OK to me. So blinded by the rule I chose it over B and to my surprise got it wrong.

I would be glad if the experts could shed some more light on this rule, did I not apply it correctly or are there some exceptions to this rule? Any pointers are welcome.....

Thanks

Cheers
Sid

I am not sure about the rule. But i would have chosen B over D, because D is WORDY..

Will wait for expert opinion.

An incorrect sentence can use correct grammar, but it can use too many words.
The use of "it" in D is kinda odd. It is not entirely clear that "it" refers to "maintaining".
B says the same thing in a much clearer manner.
Sentence Correction questions say to pick the "best answer" not the only correct one.

@The Jock - Right, but the best answer must also be correct. This is where the rules comes into the picture. If you read my post carefully, you would have seen that I have preferred B over C for the same reasons as you.

However, I wish to understand when to apply the stated rule and when not. Is the usage of an infinitive ALWAYS wrong? If not then under what circumstances can it be used. Clearly this example is an exception of the stated rule, so it may be wiser to understand it completely..

Dear experts, request you to reply to the above mentioned question ..

Suggestion : Precise wording makes interesting reading...!

B and C are close contender...!

Dirt roads may evoke the bucolic simplicity of another century, but financially strained townships point out that dirt roads cost twice as much as maintaining paved roads.

(A) dirt roads cost twice as much as maintaining paved roads (no parallelism maintained in the comparison)
(B) dirt roads cost twice as much to maintain as paved roads do (comparison is not proper, I GUESS)
(C) maintaining dirt roads costs twice as much as paved roads do (Comparison is proper and parallel) right choice
(D) maintaining dirt roads costs twice as much as it does for paved roads (awkard)
(E) to maintain dirt roads costs twice as much as for paved roads (No paralleslism)

Someone may correct me if I am wrong.

real2008 wrote:

Dirt roads may evoke the bucolic simplicity of another century, but financially strained townships point out that dirt roads cost twice as much as maintaining paved roads.

(A) dirt roads cost twice as much as maintaining paved roads (no parallelism maintained in the comparison)
(B) dirt roads cost twice as much to maintain as paved roads do (comparison is not proper, I GUESS)
(C) maintaining dirt roads costs twice as much as paved roads do (Comparison is proper and parallel) right choice
(D) maintaining dirt roads costs twice as much as it does for paved roads (awkard)
(E) to maintain dirt roads costs twice as much as for paved roads (No paralleslism)

Someone may correct me if I am wrong.

Option C has wrong comparison not B. C compares the cost of maintaining dirt roads with the cost of paved roads themselves.

I feel the answer should be B.

Pronouns must always refer to specific antecedents. In this case, the only logical antecedent for "it" is "maintaining dirt roads." However, "maintaining dirt roads" is not the EXACT SAME action as "maintaining paved roads", so it's an error to use "it" to refer to the action of maintaining paved roads.

Hope this helps!

siddus wrote:When the choice is between an infinitive and a gerund, the following rule is recommended by experts:

"On the GMAT, if you have to choose between an "ing" verb and the infinitive AFTER another verb, always choose the infinitive. When the verb does not follow another verb, the participle ("ing" form) is usually correct."

Bearing this in mind, I was solving this particular SC question -

Dirt roads may evoke the bucolic simplicity of another century, but financially strained townships point out that dirt roads cost twice as much as maintaining paved roads.

(A) dirt roads cost twice as much as maintaining paved roads
(B) dirt roads cost twice as much to maintain as paved roads do
(C) maintaining dirt roads costs twice as much as paved roads do
(D) maintaining dirt roads costs twice as much as it does for paved roads
(E) to maintain dirt roads costs twice as much as for paved roads

Now, normally I would have chosen B straight off because it sounds good and the grammar is correct...the only thing that struck me was "to maintain". So I applied the rule and chose D. The only possible flaw in this option was the pronoun "it", otherwise the sentence looked OK to me. So blinded by the rule I chose it over B and to my surprise got it wrong.

I would be glad if the experts could shed some more light on this rule, did I not apply it correctly or are there some exceptions to this rule? Any pointers are welcome.....

Thanks

Cheers
Sid